RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: The prison population in low-income countries is a group vulnerable to undernutrition, particularly incarcerated women. The aim of the study is to assess the nutritional status of women in prison and to determine the social profile and prison conditions related to undernutrition. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 125 women prisoners in Antanimora prison located in the city of Antananarivo, Madagascar. All women detained for 3 months or more at the time of the survey were included in the study. Data collection was conducted in May and June 2013. A survey of women and anthropometric measurements were carried out to collect the data. RESULTS: The proportion of undernourished female prisoners is 38.4%. Five percent of pregnant and lactating women and 44.3% of non-lactating and non-pregnant women are undernourished. The factors related to undernutrition of women prisoners are: taking two meals a day instead of three meals (p = 0.003), insufficient energy intake (p < 0.001), incarceration duration of more than 10 months (p < 0.001), absence of family visits (p = 0.013) and lack of financial assistance from family (p = 0.013). CONCLUSION: Improving the prisoners' diets and assistance from family both help to fight against prisoner undernutrition in prisons.